The "American Fashion Cookbook" includes favorite recipes from Michael Kors, Donna Karan and other fashion luminaries.

With spring in sight, our thoughts turn to finding fresh produce and cooking with the cornucopia of in-season vegetables. One of the earliest spring veggies is the artichoke, which is actually the bud of a thistle.

We discovered Gardener’s Pasta Salad, which calls for fresh or canned baby artichoke hearts, from fashion-designer-turned-garden-expert Dianne Benson in the American Fashion Cookbook (Assouline, 2009). The book, edited by Lisa Marsh, features recipes from 100 fashion designers, including Diane von Furstenberg, Carolina Herrera, Naeem Khan, Derek Lam and Monique Lhuillier .

Benson made a name in fashion with her Dianne B. retail spaces and opened the first Comme des Garçons USA store, but she now channels her passion into styling landscapes. The author of Dirt: The Lowdown on Growing a Garden with Style (iUniverse, 2000) offers her favorite 10 gardening tools on DianneBBest.com, where you can purchase her Dianne B. Tool Belt, designed to hold a Felco pruner, Japanese clippers and a pencil.

After preparing the salad, Benson suggests adding a special touch from the garden. “Top with whatever [nontoxic] flower is freshest in the garden for the lovely look,” she says. “Violets, pansies or nasturtiums are always charming.”

Gardener’s Pasta Salad
1 pound fresh pasta
2 Belgian endives, cut into ½-inch pieces
1 fennel bulb, sliced into long strips (without stalks)
4 scallions, chopped, both green and white parts
1 clove garlic, minced (preferably elephant or golden garlic)
6-8 fresh or canned (in water) baby artichoke hearts, halved
4-6 pitted black olives, thinly sliced
1 pint red or yellow cherry tomatoes, halved
1 bunch watercress, chopped
1 cup baby salad leaves or baby arugula
basil leaves, shredded *
tender fresh thyme leaves, stems removed *
salt and ground black pepper* (To taste. Additional 73 mg sodium per serving for ¼ tsp added to recipe.)
pine nuts or pistachio nuts (Optional. Additional 28 calories, 3 g fat, .09 mg sodium per serving for ¼ cup pine nuts. Additional 22 calories, 2 g fat and .03 mg sodium per serving for ¼ cup pistachios added to recipe.) *
½ cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
¼ cup virgin olive oil (the greener the better)
juice of 1 lemon

There is nothing to this but assembling the ingredients, so have them all lined up before the pasta water comes to a full boil. Cook the pasta until the desired degree of doneness. Drain well and put into a large, beautiful bowl, preferably something footed, floral and handpainted. Combine all the ingredients and toss thoroughly.

* Add to taste. Not included in nutritional information below.

Serves 8.

NUTRITION SCORE (per serving)
320 calories
28% fat
Fat 10 g
Carbs 47 g
Protein 13 g
Fiber 13 g
Calcium 176 mg
Iron 4 mg
Sodium 199 mg

We plan to make this salad throughout the summer, when we can gather fresh basil and thyme from our windowsill herb garden. Do you have any favorite artichoke dishes?

Tags: American cuisine, Artichoke, Australian cuisine, author, Carolina Herrera, Derek Lam, Diane von Fürstenberg, Dianne Benson, Food and drink, Garçons USA store, Gardener, Greek cuisine, Hospitality/Recreation, Jerky, Lisa Marsh, Monique Lhuillier, Naeem Khan, Nutrition facts label, Pasta salad, retail spaces, Salads, virgin olive oil